A Dream is a Wish You Make When You're Asleep
by SoulEvangile
Summary: Her family went to war. They left her with their friends. Their father went to war. He never came back. Mistreated, unloved, she spent every day working tirelessly for them. Every night she dreamt to be with her family again. She didn't know if they were alive or not. But every morning was the same. Mistreated and unloved, they called her a freak. Cinderella AU.


**A/N: We are back with another new story. This here has been a brain child that has been circling around in my head because of a comic strip I saw some time ago and I'm kinda surprised no one has done this before. So once again I welcome you to this new world I present before you. Also FE: Heroes are finally releasing the Choose Your Legends heroes, and Lyn is busted...like really busted. Anyway, back to matters at hand, Read and Enjoy.**

 **Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems, I own nothing.**

* * *

Prologue- Until Now

" _Thank you so much for taking care of her." A female voice said sincerely. The voice was calming and gentle, but a face couldn't be put to it._

" _It's no trouble, war is what it is after all. I'll see to it that she'll be well looked after." A male voice replied. "Still though. Generals. That's a hell of a promotion."_

" _Excellent service to the crown and the kingdom will do that to you." Another male chuckled. "But it's not at a time I had wished. I had hoped war would never had befallen our country, not so long as I drew breath." He continued, again the voice was so familiar, like they had heard it so many time's. But, the way they looked, how they acted. It wasn't there._

" _Let us pray that it will be over before the years end, little Nah here will be back in your laps before you know it." The first man said again._

" _How are the girls by the way? They must be getting big now?" The female asked._

" _They're three now, seems like yesterday they were crawling around, now they're wanting to study etiquette. They grow up so fast." The first male sobbed._

" _Your wife must be proud, they're taking after her." The second man grimaced. Nah didn't know why, but she could feel his disdain._

" _I know you never liked her, but she's done well be them and done well by me." The first replied._

" _Honey, we have to go now." The female spoke, sadness in her voice._

" _Yes, dear. I'm afraid you're right." The second male replied, before kneeling down next to her. "You be a good girl Nah, okay. They'll look after you and keep you safe." He added, before bringing her in close. She wrapped her arms around him._

" _I will, daddy." She had said._

" _We'll be back before you know it." The woman added, following the actions of the man._

" _Okay mama." Was her reply. She wasn't going to cry, she was a big girl now._

" _Generals, it's time." A new woman said, appearing with another woman, two winged horses behind them._

" _Alright." The second man sighed, running a hand through his well-kept hair. "We must be off, take care old friend."_

" _You too, general." The first man replied, saluting._

 _The two figures turned away, they mounted on top of the horses behind the two women. Dust and dirt wafted around as the pegasi's wings began beating, lifting them into the air, before shooting off._

 _Her eyes were blurring, she could feel her cheeks growing wet. She wasn't crying, she told herself she wasn't going to cry. But she was, she didn't want them to go!_

" _Mama! Daddy! Don't go!" She cried, running forward. They couldn't hear her, she knew that even in her young age. But that still didn't make it hurt any less._

" _Nah, come inside. It's time to meet your new older siblings." The man who remained told her. She didn't move, she just stayed there for a while in pain and hurt._

* * *

Nah was cleaning the kitchen, like she had done every day for years now. Her brown hair was hidden underneath a beige cloth she kept wrapped around her head to help keep her hair out of her face. She wore a short sleeved light brown dress over a long sleeved blue shirt, the brown was easiest colour to hide messes with, along with a pink apron wrapped around her waist, a blue cloth hanging outside of a pocket it had. She had light brown slippers around her feet to help keep her footing and for ease of access.

Her older 'siblings' always seemed to make a mess whenever they tried there not so skilled hands at cooking or baking. Maybe they were trying to impress someone or something, but they were terrible at it. Smoke always pilfered out whenever they tried.

It was always her fault though.

* * *

 _She awoke to shouting one day, she left her room to find the source. In the main room, the man and woman who were her carers were arguing. She hid behind the banister._

" _You don't understand, Edna. I need to do this, I need to do my part." The man who had been looking after her for the last two years argued._

" _No, you don't, David. Let those from the lesser houses do the work, not you." The woman known as Edna replied._

" _They have already sent their children into training, the Exalt doesn't want to force conscription. It's not fair to take a son away from his parents." David, her surrogate father explained._

" _What else would one more man be able to accomplish?!" Edna argued back. "Why should a father have to leave his family?"_

" _It's only for a bodyguard position, chances are I won't see much action at all." The man reasoned._

" _It's because of that General friend of yours isn't it. The one whose daughter is 'living' here and stealing our hard-earned food." The woman spat, she didn't like her._

" _Edna, please be reasonable. Nah has done nothing wrong since she got here." David begged._

" _I don't understand why you would believe that…that…thing over your own wife and daughters." Edna glared. The woman had never treated her fairly, mocking her at every turn whenever her husband wasn't around._

" _What is wrong, Edna? Please tell me why you hate Nah so much?" He asked, pleading._

" _That girl, is a crime against nature and shouldn't even exists. Her fang's, her ears, her senses. They aren't something a little girl should have. She's different and scares the children." The woman answered._

" _I'm sorry Edna, but it shouldn't be for much longer. The war is slowing down at the moment, peace talks should be anytime now." David explained, hoping to ease her._

" _That was what you said the day that girl appeared on our doorstep." Edna replied. "I'll let you go, but you better write every day."_

" _Thank you, Edna." He smiled._

 _Nah watched him leave the house, a couple of days later._

 _She would never see him again._

* * *

Mopping, one of her many chores around the house. That along, with dusting, gardening, cooking, washing the dishes, doing the clothes. Her days were packed with all of this, she was always so exhausted by the end of it that she would always sleep as soon as she hit the worn mattress she called a bed.

She was up to the third floor now, making sure everything was spic and span. No one ever helped her, it was her job.

If only her siblings would stop the screeching they called signing.

* * *

" _I'm sorry ma'am, but it is with great, great displeasure that I am to inform you that your husband has been killed in action." A blue haired man spoke, he had arrived that morning with a grave expression on his face along with some others._

" _No, he can't be. He was only supposed to be a bodyguard!" Edna argued, at the man._

" _He was, if not for him. The Exalt would be dead. My older sister would've been dead." He admitted. "My retainer said that he was a friend of his, I wish I could have known such a good man in life."_

" _Prince Chrom, what of me? What of my daughters?! How do I tell them that they now have no father?!" The woman cried, her anguish quickly being replaced by anger._

" _I'm sorry Mrs Shrode, but the halidom will compensate you for your loss. His will be given to you by weeks end." The man named Chrom apologised, offering a hand._

" _I don't want your money, and I certainly don't want your money. I just want my husband back." Edna spat, slapping away the hand, not caring about any possible repercussions. The men standing off to the side seemed to move to act, but where silenced by a wave by the prince._

" _As a parent myself, I can understand the pain you must be feeling. My…my wife nearly died the same evening, she would've sacrificed herself to save our children. Had it not been for another brave soldier, I don't know if they would alive right now." The prince replied, hoping his story would calm the grieving woman._

" _I'm…I'm so sorry milord, I hadn't known. If you want you can stay for the night, we could accommodate you in any way you so desire." As if a switch had been flicked in her head, the woman turned off the waterworks and smiled in a way that slightly creepy. "Relieve your stress."_

" _There are many more families I must speak to today Mrs Shrode, though I thank you for the offer. We must be off now." Chrom answered, turning down the offer, knowing what she was implying._

 _He stood up and left, his entourage in tow. Nah stared as they disappeared, unknowing if she would see them again, until she felt a shadow loom over her._

" _You." Edna glared at her. "This is all your FAULT!" She screeched, rearing her hand back._

 _It stung, like it always did when she hit her, but this time she didn't stop after the initial hit. She struck again, and again, and again. Until it seemed like her anger and grief had been justified._

 _She never cared that she cried, or that the woman's daughters laughed at her, if anything she seemed to encourage it. Like she was a waste of space that no one wanted._

 _Her bed was moved to the attic that night, she was all alone now._

* * *

Nah sighed, she enjoyed cooking, but sometimes it got annoying when her 'family' wanted her to make sure that every serving was proportioned out exactly as they wanted it. The amount of work and number crunching she had to do to get it all correct and right. It was crazy.

"Hurry it up girl, or do you want to eat nothing again?" Edna sneered looking on, scrutinising her for every mistake she made. Screeching at her for every time she could've dropped something.

"Yes mother. No mother." She replied, being as compliant as possible.

"Then hurry it up, our 'esteemed' guests are waiting for their meals. And you are making us seem like a mockery and fools." Her 'mother' snarled, leaving to entertain their visitors.

She sighed again, they weren't really guests. They were nobles, wealthy people of high standing. Whose children were around the age to start looking for potential suitors. No, they weren't guests…they were fresh meat for her sister's.

* * *

" _You do realise that something like this is highly illegal don't you ma'am." A white-haired woman remarked, purple markings all over there body._

" _I don't care, can you get it done?" Edna asked._

" _Dear, I can get it done. Just how much are you willing to pay for it?" The woman smirked, her talon like hands pointing towards Edna._

" _Anything. They took away my husband, I'm taking away their daughter." Edna whispered, trying to make sure they didn't hear her._

" _Oh, I like you. Payment can be sorted out anytime. All you need to do, is sign your 'adopted daughter's' name here, and your name there." The white-haired temptress explained, pointing towards the dotted lines._

" _Thank you, Lady Aversa." The older woman smirked._

" _Anytime dear, anytime." Aversa grinned._

 _They told her that her parents had died a long time ago, back when she was still young. She couldn't remember their faces even now, she wouldn't be able to recognise them even if they were alive. And they probably wouldn't be able to recognise her either if they were._

* * *

Tonight's guests were the next Duke and Duchess of Themis, a large piece of land from the border of the country, it had been one of the first places to have been attacked at the start of the war. Her mother was trying to pawn off one of her daughters to their son, it was probably why they had been trying to cook before, but had ended up making her do it in the end. Apparently, he was a big fan of sweets, a trait he had inherited from his father.

"Hey, uh? Miss, do you know where the bathroom is?" A male voice asked her.

Turning around, there was an orange haired man standing back straight, though it seemed as though he was struggling to the pose. He was wearing a fine tailored suit with a white shirt underneath, freshly cleaned and pressed. His shoes were shining, freshly polished too. Over his left eye was a large scar.

"Yes, sir. It's up the stairs and to the left, third door. It's easy to miss though." Nah replied, her ears forcibly pinned back against her head made it difficult to hear sometimes.

"Thank you, miss." He said, before hacking up loudly.

"Are you alright sir?" She asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Jus' wondering how my Ma can speak like that all the time, it's a killer on yer throat." The man replied, now hunched, his dialect changing from refined to a more laid back type of speaking.

"I can imagine." Nah chuckled.

"Sorry about that, jus' had to get away from it. Those girl's ain't subtle about what they want." He apologised.

"My sisters can be very aggressive." She replied, she would take any opportunity she could get to ruin her sister's prospects, though it seemed as though she didn't need to try with this one.

"They're yer sister's. Why aren't you dining with us then?" He asked a brow raised.

"I'm adopted, not part of the lineage." She replied, not bothered by it.

"I'm sorry to hear that, how old were you if yah don't mind my asking?" The man asked, apologising for any possible wrongdoings. "The name's Brady by the way." He added.

"I was only two at the time when I started living here, but I wasn't adopted till I was eight." Nah replied. "And my name's Nn."

"It's been a pleasure to meet you Nn, but I guess I should be going back to the wolf pack." Brady shivered. "At least it's a free meal out of it. Ma already knew what Mrs Shrode was trying to pull when she invited us. I can say I met one nice person here anyway."

"No problem, just seeing their faces later will be all worth it." Nah replied. "And thanks, most people tend to ignore the 'servant girl'."

"Wish me luck in there." The orange haired man chuckled before leaving.

"Good luck." She replied to his retreating form, before going back to the food. It was all done, now it was just time to serve it.

* * *

" _You're so useless, can't you do anything right?" One girl sneered at her._

" _Yeah, Nn, you're so worthless even your own name it just a letter." Another girl added, before the pair started cackling._

 _Jane and Jessica, her sister's, they were quite beautiful, but underneath that charming face and sweet words was an ugly soul and an even uglier heart. Deceptive and manipulative, they try to act sincere and kind._

 _But, really, they were merely buttering you up, ready to land any man that was had more money than they knew what to do with. Her ugly sisters, truly were ugly. The only way to tell them apart was that one always wore the most disgusting shade of yellow, Jane, while other blinded you with bright pink, Jessica._

 _She had been cleaning the floor, and accidentally knocked over a bucket, forcing her to start again, her sisters had been walking past at the time, probably between their lessons, and found it funny that she had made a mistake._

" _My name is not Nn, it's Nah." She argued back. "And it has two letters."_

" _No, it's Nn, mother says so, and who cares how many letter's it has, it still sounds like a single one, or do you want us to tell mother what you've been saying?" Jane threatened glaring._

" _You'll just tell her anyway." Nah sighed, knowing she would never win against her sister's._

" _At least you're smart, freak." Jessica spat, pointing to her ears._

 _They were bright red from having had to have been tied back for some guests the previous day, can't have an abnormal girl inside a high standing house. At least they let her keep them free when they weren't expecting anyone._

 _They walked away, saying that they would leave their homework with her, again. Ever since she had been old enough to teach herself how to write, they had started forcing her to do the extra work their personal tutors left them. Since they had seen her before they had started forcing her ears back, they had grown used to it. It didn't stop them from sneering at her and calling her freak whenever they saw her though._

* * *

"Tonight, has been lovely darlings, but we must be going now. Duty call's in the morning after all." The future duchess said as they were preparing to leave. She had blonde hair styled into curls at the side of her head, a pair of pink bows at either side. She was wearing a light pink dress, which was much less of an eyesore than whatever Jessica wore. Standing next to her was her husband, he was constantly fidgeting at his tie, clearly uncomfortable with what he was wearing, his orange haired combed straight.

"Oh, and what is that?" Edna asked, they hadn't said anything about it when they had replied.

"Themis will be the host for the peace talks tomorrow. Finally, after nearly fifteen years this blasted war is over." The blonde-haired woman replied.

"All thanks too Robin too, after that last tactician went turncoat. Thought it was all over at that point." The orange haired man grinned, he was the head spymaster for the halidom, second only to the new tactician, and relayed directly to him. "When I first met that old one I thought he was a girl with that face of his and purple hair. I'm pretty certain he wore lipstick too."

"He's quite young though isn't he, yet befriending the Prince really turned his life around." Edna smiled, though it was strained, how a nobody like him had risen so far in such a short amount of time grated on her to no end.

"I'm just sad that Exalt Emmeryn is being forced to abdicate as per the terms." The blonde commented. Emmeryn was a good ruler, kind and fair. But people considered her too weak to lead the country in the war, and the duty had fallen to her younger brother.

"I'm sure Prince Chrom will make a fine ruler." Edna replied, she had grown disillusioned with the whole royal family after her husband had died. The only reason she liked them was they had two young prince's her daughters age.

"Blue will, especially with Bubbles at the helm, guiding him. Those two are gonna be unstoppable." The orange haired man smiled.

"The future certainly looks bright." The older woman commented.

"As pleasant as this conversation is, I'm afraid that I'm going to need my beauty sleep." The blonde spoke up. "Come along Brady."

"Yes Mother." Brady replied, back in his haughty voice.

As the trio of guests left, Edna's face turned into a snarl, once again her plans failed. The war was over, not that she cared, as far as she knew the halidom's business wasn't hers, it never had been since her husband died.

"We're sorry mother, we tried our best." Jane and Jessica apologised at the same time.

"It wasn't your fault dears, it was your sister's for being too slow at everything. And that son of theirs was an idiot to refuse you charming ladies." Edna replied, forcing a smile.

As she dismissed her daughter's she marched towards the kitchen, her 'daughter' was busy cleaning the dishes like she should be, her ears free for the world to see.

"Nn, who said you could let your ears free?" She snarled, looking at the 'freakish' appendages.

"Our guests have left, there's no one else here that doesn't know about them." Nah replied.

*Smack*

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" Edna screeched, her hand stinging slightly as a bright red mark started to appear on Nah's face. "Once again, you have failed your sister's from marrying a man they deserve!"

"Maybe if they didn't act like a pair of needy harlots they would have more success." Nah glared, challengingly.

Having had enough of the sass, Edna reached out and twisted the long ears her 'daughter' had, she had learned long ago how sensitive they were, she enjoyed watching the girl struggle in vain against the pain.

"Because of your failure, you are not allowed any food tonight, you are to be locked in your room until morning for your back talk and tomorrow you are expected to clean everything three times over until I am personally satisfied." The old woman snarled. "Now finish this up and go to your room."

"Y-yes, mother." Nah whimpered, rubbing her ears, the old hag having finally let go. Her small stature had always put her at a disadvantage, allowing her mother easy access to her most sensitive body part.

"Good, you little freak."

* * *

There had been many a night when she was forced to go to bed without a meal, she didn't know why but she always needed to eat more than anyone else. Most of her days gardening were spent finding what stuffs where possibly edible, it helped for the most part. But she still needed to eat more than anyone else.

Sleep came easy, but never when she was hungry. The growling of her stomach kept her awake for a long time before she could stay awake no longer.

That, was when she was finally happy, her dreams. The father and the mother she couldn't remember, her adopted siblings and mother were nowhere to be seen, she was peaceful, happy, she never had to do any chores, she could explore the world doing what she wanted.

Maybe. Just maybe, she could hope for it. That her dream could become her real wish. That her parents were alive, and they could live together again, maybe somewhere out there, someone would like her for who she is, rather than called her a freak for her ears.

"But who am I kidding, those sort of fairy tales are for kids." Nah said to herself looking towards the ceiling like she had done many a night before, her eyes finally closing allowing her sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: So what did you think? Love it, hate it, don't really care? Leave what you think in the comments and any improvements you think I can make.**

 **Now for those of you who have read any of my stories before you know I like to leave some questions for you at the end. Todays question: Who are you going to choose in Heroes for your free Choose Your Legends Unit? Broken Lucina? Not as Broken Roy? Overpowered to the point of unfairness Lyn? Or Broken Ike? Leave you're answers in the Reviews and I'll see you all next time.**


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